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Holiday magic with plug-in Christmas tree fairy lights

Christmas· Christmas Decor

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This post may contain affiliate links from which I will earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

This year I completely converted my holiday lighting to plug-in fairy lights. Last year I started with my tabletop Christmas tree, then added the plug-in fairy lights in my palm trees over the summer and added even more Christmas fairy lights throughout the house this season.

I want to show you where I used fairy lights as part of this week’s Seasonal Simplicity blog hop hosted by my friend Krista of The Happy Housie blog.
So welcome to everyone coming from my real-life friend Cassie Bustamante. I love her home so much. That green fireplace is just amazing!

home tour image collage
Make sure you go through the tours with links at the end of this post!

Holiday magic with plug-in Christmas tree fairy lights

Mantle Christmas fairy lights

I went for a double-layered real garland on the fireplace this year which is really heavy, plus the added wood bead garland adds extra weight to it. Using plug-in fairy lights helped me avoid adding even more weight to the entire garland situation.

Watch me decorate the mantle in the below short time-lapse.

Isn’t it great that you can’t see any of the wires like you would with standard Christmas lighting?

fireplace garland with wood beads and plug-in fairy lights

Also added to the mantle are some ivory paper fans, eucalyptus and tan ribbon.

fireplace mantle with leather swivel chairs and fairy light garland

I decided to remove my blue art print over the fireplace and replace it with the vintage Curtis Jeré burst that I bought at an auction years ago to switch it up for the holidays.

natural advent wreath by fireplace with fairy light garland on mantle
book shelf with German smokers and wooden village
{bookshelf makeover | giant DIY rope tassel }
orange tabby sitting next to wrapped gift
real greenery mantle garland sideview with more plug-in fairy lights
fairy lights with bokeh effect glistening behind natural advent wreath

Fairy lights on wrapped gifts

I wrapped my husband’s gifts already where I used brown packaging paper and plain tan ribbon combined with my paper fans and DIY macrame Christmas ornaments.

You can use strands of battery operated fairy lights on wrapped gifts too. Just hide the battery pack on the bottom of the gift and under the thick ribbon.

gift wrapped with brown packaging paper, linen bow and fairy lights
brown paper | ribbon | DIY macrame ornament | paper fan

Tips about Christmas fairy lights

Which fairy lights do I use?

I love using warm white plug-in fairy lights and usually get a 40-feet strand of fairy lights for my plants or smaller projects like the lunch bag paper snowflakes from last year.
When I use fairy lights in standard 7.5 foot Christmas trees then I use the 100 feet strands depending on how dense I want the lights, I might use two strands.

snowflakes made out of lunch bags filled with Christmas fairy lights

how to hang fairy lights

For the fireplace, I actually used two tiny finishing nails that I permanently keep stuck inside the top of the mantle because the wood bead garland is very heavy and command hooks have failed numerous times. I don’t want the cats to get hurt when they snuggle in front of the fireplace. The garland is also pretty heavy and needed something strong like a nail to tie to.

  • Fairy lights are super light and usually, you get away with only using command hooks or command cord clips.
  • If you aren’t afraid of putting holes into the walls, try using thumbtacks which work really well for fairy lights.
  • Gorilla hooks work well if you are hanging something else heavy with them on drywall
  • When adding the fairy lights to greenery, you don’t need to use anything since the copper wire of the fairy lights nicely wrap around the individual branches and trunk which is why I love them so much.

how to remove fairy lights

I am not going to lie but this part can be a little tricky. I know standard Christmas lights can be frustrating but if rolled up correctly then they are easy to use again next season.

I roll fairy lights around the palm of the hand and then tie them together in two spots. This is the way they will arrive in the box too and makes it easy to unwind when decorating with the fairy lights for Christmas.

Don’t panic if one of the copper wires brake. You can actually easily fix that and there are numerous YouTube videos out there teaching you how to. I’ve fixed them before and it works and is actually much easier than fixing standard Christmas light strands.

view of living room with fair light fireplace
small tree decorated with grasses and macrame
The above tree that I shared two weeks ago (HERE) ended up in the dining room now but I’m not done yet in there. It was just too many trees with the newly added small real tree in the corner of the room.
small tree decorated with grasses and macrame moved into the dining room

from the dining room looking towards the living room

view from hallway into living room
bleached secretary desk project | flooring details | ancestor painting replica

The macrame snowflake I made looks lovely on the desk as a key charm. Well, at least I think so 😉

bleached desk with macrame snowflake

Here is the view without the tree again.

view of living room with flocked Christmas tree fairy lights

Let’s get back to more fairy lights…

Christmas tree fairy-lights in our real tabletop Christmas tree

Just like last year, I used only plug-in fairy lights in our real tabletop corner tree. I love the look! I’m convinced that I will use the icicles every year now to give the trees that extra sparkle. I also brought the starfish back and used more paper fans.

view of small real tree with Christmas tree fairy lights and starfish decor
close-up view of Christmas tree fairy lights in real tree
side view of living room with real tree and fairy lights
bokeh effect of fairy lights in real Christmas tree

Plug-in fairy lights in the pre-lit flocked Christmas tree

Since our flocked tree is prelit it still has standard lights on it which you can see but some of the strands are dead and I couldn’t figure out how to fix it. So adding the thin Christmas tree fairy lights in addition really helped make it sparkle again without struggling to make a new thick green wired standard light strand blend in.

Two major reasons I like the plug-in fairy lights so much better is that the wires are so thin and can be easily wrapped around objects, there are no annoying light bulbs to deal with and they weigh next to nothing. 

close up of decorated flocked Christmas tree with plug-in fairy lights

When the lights are off you can see all the ornaments that I added much better. Check out my macrame ornaments, painted faux terracotta Christmas ball ornaments, and paper fan faux palm leaf tutorials.

decorated flocked Christmas tree with lights turned off
paper fans in flocked Christmas tree
Christmas tree fairly lights on flocked tree with paper fans, icicles macrame ornaments and painted ball ornaments
Christmas fairy lights sparkling

The kitties always love all the trees and warm lights everywhere too.

black cat sleeping on sofa
orange tabby sleeping under Christmas tree
tuxedo cat in front of Christmas tree
Christmas tree fairy lights to create holiday magic

So that’s it for me today but…

Now head on over to Colleen at Lemon Thistle. I always love her home so much.

blog hop logo

Monday
The Happy Housie | Inspiration for Moms | Maison de Cinq | This is Simplicite | Chrissy Marie Blog | Modern Glam | Nick & Alicia
Tuesday  
Cassie Bustamante | Cuckoo4Design | Lemon Thistle | Love Create Celebrate | tatertots & jello | Jennifer Maune |  She Gave it a Go | Clean & Scentsible |  
Wednesday  
The Handmade Home | Finding Silver Pennies | Joanna Anastasia | Amber Tysl | The DIY Mommy | My Sweet Savannah | Dans le Lakehouse | Fynes Designs  
Thursday 
Two Twenty One | Cherished Bliss | Life is Better at Home | All Things With Purpose | This is Our Bliss | Home Made Lovely | Place of My Taste  
Friday
 The Tattered Pew | Life is a Party | Rambling Renovators | House by Hoff | Deeply Southern Home | Grace in My Space | Taryn Whiteaker Designs | Just a Girl and Her Blog

Tschüß,

Want more of my Christmas decor? Check it out!

pampas grass Christmas tree in front of paper lunch bag snowflakes with lights on

stylish boho DIY pampas grass Christmas tree

Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Ideas Home Tour

Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Ideas Home Tour

How to make 3D paper snowflakes using lunch bags

How to make 3D paper snowflakes using lunch bags

Modern European Eclectic Christmas Tree with pinecones, white stars, clear Christmas balls and white Christmas balls on a real untrimmed fir tree | blue, white and black fireplace area with leather swivel chairs

My Home Style: Christmas Tree Edition

modern take on traditional European/German Christmas decor

German Influenced Christmas Home Tour

Blue, black and white eclectic Christmas living room

Friday Favorites: My favorite faux Christmas Trees

Our large live tabletop Christmas tree and home tour

Our large live tabletop Christmas tree and home tour

wooden German three tier Christmas pyramid

German Christmas Decorations

icicles dripping from a chandelier with real pine garland for a festive Christmas dining table

my favorite DIY Christmas decorations

Natural Christmas Decorations

Natural Christmas Decorations

Home Decorators Collection® holiday homes blog hop - mancave/basement family room

Our basement family room for HDC Holiday Homes

eclectic Christmas dining room with vintage glass table, urchin chandelier and abstract art

Blue, Black and White Christmas Tour (part 2)

Blue, Black and White Christmas (part 1)

Blue, Black and White Christmas (part 1)

Small living room Christmas tree - Cuckoo4Design

Our multi color Christmas tree

DIY huge wood bead garland made with unfinished furniture feet

DIY huge wood bead garland

Christmas living room - Cuckoo4Design

Pink and gold Christmas tree home tour

snowflake and pinecone DIY Christmas canvas paintings

snowflake and pinecone DIY Christmas canvas paintings

natural German Christmas tree

natural German Christmas tree

Neutral boho Christmas tree with macrame, grasses and orange slices

Neutral boho Christmas tree with macrame, grasses and orange slices

How to make Christmas ornaments with macrame yarn

How to make Christmas ornaments with macrame yarn

Holiday magic with plug-in Christmas tree fairy lights

Holiday magic with plug-in Christmas tree fairy lights

Easy and affordable paper fan decorations inspired by faux sun palm leaves

Easy and affordable paper fan decorations inspired by faux sun palm leaves

Previous Post: « How to make Christmas ornaments with macrame yarn
Next Post: Easy and affordable paper fan decorations inspired by faux sun palm leaves »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cassie Bustamante says

    December 8, 2020 at 5:38 am

    You have outdone yourself! This is absolutely incredible- I am obsessed with your paper fans on the tree and gifts, and your mantel is stunning! Well done, my friend!

    • Julia says

      December 8, 2020 at 12:38 pm

      Thank you so much Cassie. Merry Christmas

  2. Tammara says

    December 8, 2020 at 8:51 am

    Gorgeous, simply gorgeous! Love how you switch things around, goes to show you, keep what you love and it can be switched around. Great style

    • Julia says

      December 8, 2020 at 12:39 pm

      Thanks Tammara, I want to also show people that you don’t need to constantly buy new things and that you can reinvent what you have and just add a few new things here and there.

  3. Marty says

    December 8, 2020 at 9:15 am

    Wow, where do I begin. Everything is so beautiful. I love your lights and your photography is amazing too.

    • Julia says

      December 8, 2020 at 12:39 pm

      Thanks so much Marty. I hope you are doing well!

  4. celeste says

    December 8, 2020 at 12:10 pm

    Do you have a post to DIY these paper fans?

    • Julia says

      December 8, 2020 at 12:35 pm

      Yes, I’m working on that post right now and posting it all tomorrow.

  5. Lindi says

    December 8, 2020 at 12:13 pm

    Such a pretty home tour! Love the colours and all the the paper and macrame accents – so pretty! And of course the kitties 😉

    • Julia says

      December 8, 2020 at 12:40 pm

      Thanks Lindi. The kitties are my babies 😉

  6. Amy says

    December 8, 2020 at 12:19 pm

    schön, wie immer! I love that you celebrate Advent. We forgot to light candle #2 on Sunday. You’re so very talented.

    • Julia says

      December 8, 2020 at 12:40 pm

      Oh hello Amy! Vielen Dank! So happy to see you are still sticking around. How are you?

  7. Jenn says

    December 8, 2020 at 12:56 pm

    Incredible!!! I’m a fellow fairy light lover too so I loved all of your ideas. Those paper bag snowflakes are on my list of projects I want to make – they’re so pretty! I absolutely love your garland too on the mantel. Enjoy your home this holiday season and Merry Christmas to you and your family!

  8. Jenn says

    December 8, 2020 at 12:59 pm

    Also, off topic, I was wondering where you got your picture frames by your mantel? I’m looking for ones like that with the thin outer frame but can’t seem to find ones that aren’t super expensive. I’m not sure what size yours are – I’m trying to find 11×14 photos with matting around them. Thanks!

    • Julia says

      December 9, 2020 at 9:09 am

      Thanks so much Jenn! They are actually from Target and are certificate frames. I believe they are 11×14. Merry Christmas to you too!

  9. Danielle says

    December 8, 2020 at 5:16 pm

    Incredible! Those sweet fairy lights add so much magic to your home. Great tips on selecting them as well. We added loads of plug in fairy lights outside and it makes me so happy. I agree. I love warm lights, too. I asked the salesman if I could plug them in because I wanted to make sure. I love that auction item that’s over the fireplace and love the portrait above your desk. So much goodness and magic. Wishing you a fabulous Christmas! xx

    • Julia says

      December 9, 2020 at 9:11 am

      Thanks Danielle, I have one tree with cold white lights and I hate it. I actually said to my husband that I want to donate it.
      The portrait over the desk is my great grandmother and my parents have the original. I’m glad I got it duplicated. Have a Merry Christmas too.

  10. Kelly Elko says

    December 8, 2020 at 6:43 pm

    Wow Julia, your house positively glows! Your cats have never looked better by the soft glow of fairy lights!

    • Julia says

      December 9, 2020 at 9:10 am

      Thanks Kelly! Maya is sleeping under the tree right now again 🙂

  11. Tanya from Dans le Lakehouse says

    December 10, 2020 at 9:07 am

    WOW! Your home looks so magical. I am obsessed with those paper fans you made and your macrame ornaments and your fairy lights look stunning. Merry Christmas!

  12. LOU PETERSON says

    December 12, 2020 at 8:45 pm

    WOW YOU ARE SO TALENTED YOUR DECOR LOOKS MAGICAL YOUR COLORS AND DECOR IS AWSOME YOUR KITTIES LOOK VERY CONTENT KUDOS TO YOU AGAIN!

  13. Krista says

    December 13, 2020 at 9:55 pm

    Beautiful tour, Julia! I love how cozy-glam it is with boho touches. Thanks for being part of this series!

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Cuckoo4Design


I’m a German citizen living in the US who is cuckoo for all things DIY, design and pets. This is my design journey of our small home on a budget. Come stay a while and look around.

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